Lift Me Up
by Southern Hearts
Summary: UNDER REVISION
1. I will be a Knight!

_**Note: This story contains a few O.C.'s, not the most original ones in the world, but they serve a purpose. You'll just have to read to see why I used them. **_

_**________________________________________________________________________**_

Chapter one

I will be a knight!

Kairi stared out of her window and sighed, she hated balls, parties of any kind really. It was a good thing her father was such a recluse or she'd actually have to attend them. What was worrying her was not the non-existent ball, but the fact that in a few months she'd be forced to attend them. The purpose, as her father would put it; 'to marry her off and get her out of his hair,' well, not literally those words, but close enough. Kairi's father didn't pay much attention to her, he was a knight, but one that liked to keep to his books, Kairi doubted he had picked up a weapon since his days as a squire. He hated going to court and he hated anything new or original for that matter. In three days Kairi and her twin brother, Kyle, would be leaving their home and going their separate ways. Kyle to the palace of Twilight Dawn to study to be a knight and Kairi to a finishing school on Destiny Islands to learn to be a lady. Kairi sighed again. That meant she'd have to start wearing dresses and curling her hair and flirting and well, she shuddered, that just wasn't for her.

Sometimes she felt she should have been born the boy, especially since Kyle wanted to go study under the great Master Yen Sid and learn to be a sorcerer, not a knight.

Kairi envied her brother; he could be a knight, have adventures and serve the kingdom. He would be known as 'Sir Kyle' heir to the entire estate that was Radiant Garden, while she, his younger twin sister was doomed to the life as wife to some foreign lord.

She was fourteen years old!

Shouldn't she be able to make her own decisions?

There were female warriors, scores of them, why couldn't she be one too? She'd trained with numerous amounts of weaponry, even with a key blade, along side her brother. Squall had taught them both well and now she was going to waste it all?

Kairi stood from her seat, silently shaking with fury, the thoughts made her angry. She clenched her fist, running from her room.

Okay, so she was the stereotypical hot headed redhead, that didn't mean this treatment was any less unfair.

"Kyle!" she yelled, crashing into her brother's room without knocking, her brother looked up from his book, mildly surprised at her entrance.

"Need something Kai?" he drawled at his sister, only infuriating her more.

The two could have been identical, same hair, same eyes, same faces; the only difference was their gender. In a few years Kyle would grow out of boyhood and no doubt start looking more like a man, at the moment not even his voice had started breaking yet.

"What are we going to do?" she grumbled, "Father's forcing us on paths neither one of us wants to walk down. I don't think I can handle this!"

Kyle looked at his sister in amusement; he had hoped she'd feel this way. He'd thought about their situation long and hard and had come up with a solution; all that he was waiting for was for Kairi to crack.

"So let's make our own path," he said, the beginnings of a smirk forming on his face.

Kairi looked at him in confusion.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Let's swap places," suggested Kyle, "You want to be a knight, right? Are you willing to sacrifice for it?"

"You know I am!" Kairi snapped.

"Then sacrifice your gender," he smiled at her, "Master Yen Sid lives right near your finishing school, if I go there I'm sure I can convince him to take me. You will just take my place as a squire."

"If I'm caught-"

"You'll just have to be careful then," he shrugged, "Your call Kai."

He was nervous though, he didn't know if she'd go for such a hair brained scheme, she was Kairi after all. All he knew was his entire future rested on her decision.

Kairi looked at her brother thoughtfully, it wasn't just about her, it was him too. He really wanted to be a sorcerer and she wanted to be more than a maiden, so why not? Hiding her gender from the world for a few years, okay, maybe the rest of her life, wasn't it worth it? To be a Knight, just, honourable and good, like all the stories told?

"Okay," she sighed, "I'll do it!"

Kyle jumped up and hugged his sister.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" he cried, "You won't regret this!"

"One question," Kairi said as he let go of her.

"What is it?"

"How're we going to convince Squall?"

_______________________________

Turned out it was pretty easy to convince Squall, they just had to promise to stop calling him Squall.

"You're seriously going to help us in exchange for that?" Kyle exclaimed, completely surprised.

"Hey!" he said gruffly, running a hand through his messy brown locks and pushing out of his eyes, "I've trained you both and quite frankly, Kairi has more chance of passing into knighthood than you ever would."

"Squall-" Kyle began as Kairi giggled.

"I'm sorry?" he said, "What was that?"

Kyle scowled; he'd never liked the man that much.

"Leon," he relented, "You will help us? Right?"

Squall or Leon as he now was, regarded them with amusement in his deep, brown eyes.

"Like I said," he shrugged, "Kairi would make a pretty good knight, and you, well you've always been one for your books and learning. A lot like your father."

Kyle's scowl deepened at the comparison. He was nothing like his father; sometimes he envied Kairi, the youngest daughter. She was ignored by their father, yes, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. As the eldest, everything fell on Kyle's shoulders, running the estate because his father was too caught up in himself to, looking after Kairi and still having to train to be a knight, a position he loathed.

"I plan to do more than my father ever dreamed," he said, his eyes determined. Kairi watched her brother with a steady gaze; she loved him and was proud of him, but this scheme of his. If they were ever caught most likely Kyle would lose more than just his title and she'd probably be banished for impersonating a man, but somehow, it all seemed worth it. She hoped it worked, for his sake as well as her own.

"Kairi," she turned at Leon's voice, giving him a questioning look, "You're sure you want to do this?"

She nodded.

"I'm sure."

"You realise the way they train those squires, it's a lot worse than I could muster up?" Kairi nodded again, "You'll have to bind your breasts down, never let any of those boys see you unless fully dressed, take care of your-uh-woman's business in secret." Kairi blushed. Of all the talks for him to give her.

"I understand Leon," she emphasized his name, "I'm willing to take the risk."

Leon looked at her and nodded. As long as she was clear and knew what she wanted.

"So what's your alias going to be?" he asked.

They looked at one another in confusion.

"Kyle of course," she said.

"Wrong!" said Leon.

"Why not?" asked Kyle, "She looks just like me!"

"Yeah, but are you going to be going to finishing school and pretending to be her for four years?" Leon shook his head, "Those finishing school mistresses are harsh, they strip the girls down first day just to measure them up. There's no way in hell you'd survive!"

Kyle and Kairi both gulped.

"Then what do we do?" asked Kyle.

Leon grinned.

"Meet your new youngest brother Kai," he said, pointing at Kairi, "Kyle went to study to be a mage, Kairi went to her friend in Oblivion and poor Kai had to contend with becoming a knight. Shunned most of the time by his father and forced to live in recluse despite being part of triplets born to Radiant Garden."

"Triplets?" Kyle glared at Leon, "What makes you think that'll work?! They keep records of all noble births!"

Leon chuckled.

"Yes," he said, "But not deaths."

Kairi and Kyle blinked as realisation dawned on them.

"But he was stillborn!" Kairi exclaimed, "His birth wouldn't be recorded!"

"Actually," said Leon sadly, but bluntly, "You're brother was alive for eight minutes before both he and your mother died."

The twins, who had once been triplets, shuddered. They had heard of their mother's death so many times, of that one last child who just didn't make it, the un-named little boy. Neither Kairi nor Kyle gave much thought to it, they had never known him after all. Now it seemed he was to be their saving grace.

_________________________________

"Namine!" Kairi whined to her friend, "You have to help me, please!"

Namine was Kairi's best friend; she was also the youngest princess of the neighbouring kingdom of Oblivion. Radiant Garden was situated literally on the border between the countries of Oblivion and Twilight; it was on that border that Kairi had met her first real friend nearly ten years ago. Nowadays Namine liked to disguise herself as a peasant and cross the border to visit Kairi. Her brother and father had no idea Namine was a princess though, no one except Kairi knew. She thought it was pretty obvious though, Namine fit the whole princess look in her opinion. A year older than Kairi, with flowing locks of blonde gold hair, huge blue eyes that shone like the ocean and a quiet, gentle manner that read princess all over it.

Namine looked at her friend and then to the pair of scissors she had put in her hand.

"I can't do it Kairi!" she cried, "Your hair is so beautiful!"

Kairi snorted, her red mess of hair was anything but beautiful, it flowed right down to her waist and was purely bothersome and heavy.

"Namine," she said softly, looking at her friend, her big violet blue eyes widening in desperation, "Please?"

Namine bit down on her lip and snipped off a lock of her friend's hair, although Kairi knew it was necessary and that the long hair has been really heavy and bothersome lately, she still felt sad. The one time her father had ever complemented her, it had been on her hair, he'd said it was like her mother's.

"See?" she said, faking a smile, "That wasn't so bad? Was it?"

Namine sighed bending forward and giving her a reassuring hug.

"You're going to be an amazing knight someday," she said, "And if they don't knight you here, I'll just do it in Oblivion and you can grow your hair as long as you want and prance around as the only female knight in the entire world."

Kairi laughed, trying to imagine what it would be like one day to be a knight and to have everyone now she was a woman.

"Thanks Nami," she murmured, a single tear cascading down her face. She cleared her throat, staring straight ahead. What was a little hair to her dream?

"Okay," she said, "Do it."

____________________________________

Namine pulled her hood over and handed Kairi the red wig she'd had made.

"Keep it," she said, gathering up her things, "In case you ever need to go girl mode, I've sent the letter to the finishing school confirming you will be my lady-in-waiting for the next four years. Your brother will forge letter to your father every other month, right?"

Kairi nodded.

"How can I ever repay you for this?" she said, looking at her friend sincerely.

Namine smirked.

"You can show those boys that we girls are tougher than the lot of them," she said, her feminist side taking over, "Become a knight Kairi, and be a good one. Promise me, okay?"

She held out her pinkie, Kairi laughed at the childish way, but it was their way.

"I promise," she said, shaking Namine by the pinkie.

The two friends hugged, Namine wrapped her cloak tightly around her and disappeared into the night, Kairi always wondered how her friend managed to get from her palace to here in such a short amount of time, it was a good thirty miles away.

"I will be a knight," she promised her friend again, "A good one."

_____________________________________

Halfway across the kingdom, in a small village not far from the royal palace of Twilight, another soul began their journey. He was lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, his sky blue eyes unblinking, and his expression dull. He felt nothing inside of him, not happiness or excitement, not pain or resentment, he felt-

_Empty. _

It wasn't supposed to be like this, after all, he'd just found out he was destined for knighthood. That was every kid's dream.

_Wasn't it?_

He sighed, sitting up and shook his spiky, brown head fiercely. He got up and looked himself in the mirror; the fourteen year old boy clenched his fist. Finally the feeling started to come to him. Anger, fear, hurt and worst of all, mistrust.

He was angry at what they were doing to him, angry at what they had done.

If anyone had the right to decide his destiny, it was _him_.

_Damn it! _

He punched the nearest wall, hard, ignoring the pain that travelled from his fist to his arm and let way to the tears of bitterness that had began to well up in his eyes.

He didn't want to be a knight!

_______________________________________

Kairi well before dawn the next morning, she looked at herself in the mirror, not for the first time and sighed inwardly.

She looked like Kyle.

Hers was shorter though, and her bangs hung scruffily over her forehead from the cut, but Namine had done a descent job and she didn't look horrible. She just looked different.

Like a boy.

She winced and reached for the wig Namine had given her, securing it over her head. There, she smiled into the mirror, that was better. She looked at herself again and pulled the wig off with a huff.

"No Kairi," she said to herself, "You're just going to have to get used to it."

Still, she spent the next two hours fiddling with that wig.

________________________________________

"Kairi!" Kyle called, "Father wishes to bid us farewell!"

Kairi smoothed down her dress, fitting the wig into place and made her way down stairs. Her father and brother were both waiting for her outside the barracks along with Leon and Kairi's attendant, Selena.

Selena was a middle aged woman with greying blonde hair, she'd been at the estate for as long as Kairi could remember and had been an attendant to her mother years ago. The woman granted Kairi a knowing smile as she approached; she was in on the whole plan.

Kairi had been surprised at first, but then the woman had said.

"Your mother would be proud that you've made your own path."

Kairi had smiled and hugged her old friend who was more than happy to take an extended vacation on Destiny Islands at the Duke of Radiant Garden's expense.

"Daughter," her father greeted as she approached, his voice cold and distant.

"Father," she acknowledged, her voice held the same pitch.

He nodded in approval and turned to his son.

"Become a good knight boy," he said, his tone bored, "Become a worthy heir and subject of the king."

Kyle bowed.

"Yes sir," he said respectively.

To say the least, the farewells were…dull.

Kairi was so thankful when she was finally getting into the carriage with Selena and driving away as far from Radiant Garden as they could go.

"We'll be there by this afternoon," her brother said as he mounted his horse with Leon, "Better get ready."

Kairi smiled.

She was ready.

____________________________________

Many hours later, dressed as a boy and accompanied by Leon on horse back, Kairi made her way through the crowded market streets of Twilight's capital city, Twilight Dawn. Having bid farewell to Selena and Kyle as they boarded the ship to Destiny Islands, they were now headed towards the royal palace. It was amazing to see the busy peasant market in full swing; there were vendors and merchants off all sorts around them. But Kairi was only aware of the pit beginning to form in her stomach.

"I'm nervous Leon," she admitted as the castle came into view, "What if someone finds out?"

Leon shrugged.

"Hey," he said, "I'm not saying this was ever the best idea, but you've got to follow your heart, right? If you really want to be a knight Kai, you're going to have to try and have the determination to carry on even if you fail. That's what knighthoods about Kai, having the urge to protect someone you care about no matter what, and never giving up. Never giving in."

It was strange, being called Kai all of a sudden, but she supposed she'd just have to get used to it.

"Thanks Leon," she smiled, "I-"

Suddenly something small ran out in front of her horse causing him to rise up in surprise. Kairi tried to calm him down, but she was swiftly bucked off. She screamed, expecting to hit one of the stalls hard, but instead found herself falling into something soft. A surprisingly strong pair of arms went around her; she looked up into sky blue eyes.

"You might want to watch it next time, milady," her saviour said smirking, "You nearly crashed into the fish stall, messy business that."

Kairi felt her cheeks heat as she focused on his face; he was cute, really cute. Brown spiky hair, lightly tanned skin and big, piercing blue eyes. That was of course when she realised, he'd called her 'milady.'

"Hey!" she protested, struggling, "I'm a guy you know!"

He chuckled and set her down, she stood and glared at him, holding his hands up in surrender he shook his head.

"So you are," he said, "Sorry mate. You scream like a girl, that's all."

Kairi blinked.

"Why you!" she yelled, her temper rising.

The boy laughed harder.

"Easy Red!" he said, "I meant no harm, just glad to see you're alright."

Kairi clenched her teeth.

"What do you mean _Red?_!" she yelled, "Rude! Arrogant-"

She was cut off when Leon arrived. She turned, he was glaring at her and she knew he'd seen the entire scene from the look on his face.

"Kai!" he yelled, "Thank that young man for saving you this instant, young l-man!"

Kairi turned to the boy grudgingly and bowed.

"Thank you," she relented, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

The boy had a goofy grin plastered to his face, he held out a hand. Kairi looked up in surprise.

"Kai huh?" he said with a wink as Kairi took his hand, "I think I like Red better."

They shook hands once, Kairi glaring at him and he turned away.

"See you around, Red!" he yelled as he disappeared into the crowd.

"Why you-!" she started preparing to chase after him.

"Kai!" Leon barked.

Kairi let out a frustrated sigh.

"Crazy peasant!" she muttered angrily, before getting back on her horse again.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_**Wow, this took forever, so many ideas. **_

_**Inspired from a number of things I guess, Twelfth Night, She's the Man, a couple Tamora Pierce books and a few fanfics where Kairi dresses as the guy. But mostly from a story I wrote a while back for a friend, which I've kind of twisted to fit Kingdom Hearts. Well, you'll see. Any thoughts? Good, Bad, Terrible?**_

_**I can take the hit. **_

_**-Southern Hearts-**_


	2. Settling

Chapter Two

Settling

The '_crazy peasant' _in question rounded the corner near his home, still laughing. He bent down, grabbing his sides at the tears started in his eyes. He suddenly remembered why he loved teasing nobles so much, they could be so stuck up sometimes it was hysterical. Okay, he did call the guy a girl, but hey, that's what he'd first thought when the kid landed in his arms.

Anyone could make that mistake!

"That was priceless," he chuckled, he literally couldn't believe it, the boy had gone as red as his hair and that was saying something.

"What's so funny?" asked a familiar voice, suddenly appearing beside him.

The boy jumped.

"Roxas!" he exclaimed, eyeing the blonde, "Don't scare me like that!"

His friend chuckled, at fifteen Roxas was a good year older than him, though only a few inches taller, his hair was a short, spiky blonde with bangs that fell softly over his blue eyes, identical to the other boy's. Suffice it to say; apart from the age difference, the height and the hair, both boys could have been identical.

"Sorry Sora," he said lightly, "So what was so funny?"

Sora shook his head.

"Nothing," he said with a grin, "Just infuriating one of the new noble boys coming to train."

Roxas raised an eyebrow and laughed.

"Just hope you don't run into him again," he said, messing up the younger boy's already spiky hair.

Sora took note of the young noble's peasant appearance as he shoved his hand away.

"In disguise again, I see," Sora commented with a smirk.

Roxas grinned.

"Only way to move around unnoticed," he said, "Or have you forgotten about tonight?"

Sora nodded, sobering up immediately as he remembered Roxas' _reason_ for being there.

"Right," he said, depressed again, "Forgot about that."

Roxas looked at the younger boy for a moment and sighed.

"Listen," he said, "I know you don't want this and heck, I don't blame you. If they'd told me something like that after fourteen years, I'd be worse than you right now. Listen Sora, I promise it'll be okay."

Sora shook his head.

"I don't know Rox," he said to his friend, "I really don't know anymore."

_____________________________________

Kairi sat crossed armed on her saddle, Leon was lecturing her again.

"You need to control your temper," he scolded, "How do expect to act in battle if you're always being such a hothead!?"

Kairi frowned and sighed.

"Fine," she grumbled, "I'll try to control my temper."

Leon glared at her, he knew she wouldn't and sighed too.

"Just try to keep respectful while you're here," he warned, "They take their punishments a lot more serious than you would think."

Kairi snorted.

_After Leon, how bad could this place be?_

_________________________________

"Drop and give me three hundred! You measly, rotten excuse for a squire!" the Knight Master shouted at an unsuspecting boy who had apparently been 'slacking off.'

Kairi gulped as she followed Leon through the training grounds of the palace.

_Okay_, she thought, _maybe Leon was right. _

Leon, watching her reaction, could only smirk.

"This way Kai," he said, calling her away from the sceptical that was the boy's torture, "You'll get your turn soon enough, for now let's go get you settled in."

Kairi gulped, this was going to be a long four years.

_________________________________

"I thought Master Kyle was to be our new squire," Duke Ansem said, looking at Kairi sceptically, "I heard no mention of a Kai, ever."

Ansem was an old gentleman with greying hair and beard and sharp blue eyes, he was one of the king's oldest advisors and fore saw all the new squires who came to train at the Royal Palace.

Kairi put on a sad face; she'd practiced it a lot.

"That sounds like my father," she sighed, trying to be melancholy, "I was last born sir, right before our mother died and well…I don't think he's ever gotten over that."

_It is true_, Kairi thought, _he's never forgiven me for living whilst mother died. _

Duke Ansem looked at her sympathetically.

"Yes," he sighed, "Your father has been quite the recluse since her death. I suppose he didn't want Kyle to be a sorcerer either, but relented in the end after much begging."

Kairi nodded; dumbfounded the man was taking the lie in.

"Poor boy," said Ansem, "You look so much like your mother, same eyes."

Kairi blinked.

_Ansem had known her mother?_

"Of course you are welcome here Master Kai," he continued, "You have your own private room up in Destiny dorm; there's also an adjoining room there for your manservant. Leon was it?"

Leon nodded gruffly.

"Thank you sir," said Kairi, bowing to the duke.

Amsem smiled at her.

"I'll have one of the older squires show you the way," he said, and then barked, "Xehenort!"

Kairi jumped at the sudden harshness in his voice as a silver haired man of about twenty five entered the room, his amber eyes shone eagerly.

"Yes your Grace?"

"Fetch Riku," said Ansem, "Tell him to show the new squire to his room. And be quick about it!"

The man bowed and exited the room.

Harsh, thought Kairi.

Ansem sighed as the man left the room.

"It's so hard to find good help these days," he said to the two seated in front of him.

Kairi and Leon only nodded.

_______________________

Riku turned out to be a squire a good year older than Kairi, he was at least a head taller though, had long silvery hair and flashy aqua blue eyes.

_Okay_, thought Kairi, _so he's kind of handsome, not the time to go boy crazy Kairi!_

He gave her a small, reserved smile as she and Leon followed him through the winding corridors of the lower palace. The lower palace, they'd been told, was where the nobility trained as knights, it was where the squires lived, worked, learned, etc. the upper palace was where the king and queen stayed with the royal family, all excepting the crown prince who was currently studying to be a knight and lived in the lower end of the palace with all the other squires. Kairi was curious, usually princes trained under their father, the king, she asked Riku what he was like.

"You'll see him around," Riku's voice was a little dark, resentful even, "He's always around."

Kairi blinked, sounded like he didn't like the prince that much.

_Weird guy_, she shrugged.

_________________________

Having been shown to their rooms, Riku bid them farewell after informing them that dinner would be in the grand hall that knight. Apparently whenever new squires arrived they were required to introduce themselves to the entire castle.

Kairi gulped, not that she was scares of public speaking or anything it was just…

_The entire castle?_

"Don't worry," Riku smirked at her expression, "You're not the only green horn joining, there's another kid too, don't know anything about him though."

Kairi felt a little better, but not much, so she wasn't the only one, there was another boy starting. Then again, she was the only girl starting and currently disguised as a boy.

This was going to be an interesting night.

_________________________

"But I don't think-" he began, but it was hopeless.

"Sora," his mother said, her eyes serious, "You'll be fine."

"But-"

"Roxas will be with you," she assured him.

Sora groaned.

He looked at his mother, Tifa Lockhart was a formidable and beautiful woman, to say the least, and she was also one of the finest female warriors in the world. Long dark hair and piercing eyes, no one messed with her. It would be foolish to say she had not taught her children well. Sora was a fair fighter, both with his fists and his weapons. He lived at the Seventh Heaven Inn in Twilight Dawn with his mother and younger sister Xion. Tifa had retired to manage the Inn after her husband, Zack Fair, had died some twelve years ago. Sora loved her, he loved them both, but that didn't discern from the fact that she had lied to him his entire life.

"Mom," he said, refusing to call her anything else, "I don't want-"

"We've been through this," she said sternly, crossing her arms, "You know what will happen if you don't."

"Yes but-"

"Sora," she said warningly.

Sora hung his head.

Tifa sighed and gave him a big hug, she could tell he was holding back tears, she knew he didn't want to leave; she knew he didn't want this.

"It won't be forever," she told the boy smiling, "And you know you can come visit us as often as you like, we're still your family."

_Family?_

Sora wondered if he'd ever really have a family, as was the word, now. If he ever really had one, he thought he had, but…

What was family? The people who had loved, but lied to him his entire life? Or the one's who had all but ignored him?

Sora pulled away from her with a sigh.

"I'll do it," he said finally, "But when the four years are done, I make my own path, I refuse to cooperate with what ever this so called destiny has in store for me, deal?"

Tifa looked at Sora, her eyes sad and nodded. She knew she couldn't ask him to do more; they were already ripping apart his life as it was.

Sora rose to his feet.

"I'll go get ready to leave," he said finally, "Excuse me, m-Aunt Tifa."

Tifa felt the tears trickle down her face as he shut the door to his room behind him, her little happy go lucky Sora. Her little trickster, her little light, her _Sky_.

He had finally severed the bond they had once held between them as mother and son.

He wasn't _hers_ anymore.

___________________________

Sora could feel the tears starting and shook his head. It was no use; he had no say in the matter. He was already as well trained as any squire, as Roxas was, why did he have to go? Why waste all that time?

_The dreams_, a voice whispered inside of him, _remember the dreams, what will come to pass if you do not._

Sora sighed, putting his face in his hands. Those dreams, the fire, the death, the darkness. Would that really happen if he refused to go? If he refused his destiny? Refused to become what he was born to be?

He took a deep breathe to steady himself, he knew he had a job to do, it was written in every legend he had ever heard. His role was a great one, a hero's story.

He just never wanted it to be him.

_______________________________

Kairi got into her squires outfit angrily, it just had to be red, didn't it? The colour clashed horribly with her hair, why did she have to be of the house of Radiant Garden? Why did their colours have to be red? Of all the colours in the world, why red?

And not a nice deep red that would have set off her eyes, a horrible orangey red that made her hair look-

"Stop acting like a girl!" she scolded herself softly, slipping on the red tunic, "It's not that bad and it's only for tonight! Tomorrow you get the uniform of a palace squire."

The palace squire uniform was black and blue and was only to be used during feasts and such, but still, it was better than this awful red!

"Kai!" Leon yelled, "You done?"

As a supposed nobleman, Kairi had the right to keep her personal manservant with her at all times; as such they shared joining room. Unfortunately, they also shared one bathroom.

"Nearly," she called back, straightening her tunic and looking at herself in the mirror.

"Okay," she said, trying to straighten her mussed up hair style, "Guess this is as good as it's going to get."

She stepped out and smiled at the cross armed Leon.

"Ready?" she smiled.

________________________________

"I can do this, I can do this, I-I-I _can't_ do this," he muttered angrily, full panic mode sinking in, he turned, "Let's do this some other time."

Roxas grabbed his young friend by the shoulders and pulled him round.

"Come on Sora," he sighed, "You just have to say your name and sit down."

"To a stuck up bunch of nobles!" Sora looked terrified, "They-"

"Are you going to finish that sentence?"

Sora laughed nervously, catching the glint in his eye.

"Hey!" he said, "You're different, you know that. Roxas, you're my best friend, but, well-You know none of them are going to accept me!"

"Sora-"

"And even if they do-"

"Sora!"

Sora looked at his friend, Roxas was shaking his head and smiling, he looked close to laughing.

"Are you actually scared, Sora?" he smirked, "This coming from the boy who played a prank on Duke Ansem himself! Who beat up an entire gang of bullies for terrorizing one dog! Who travelled with Tifa Lockhart to the frozen Land of Dragons and helped with the war effort and-"

Sora glared at him.

"Alright already!" he snapped, "You know most of those pranks were your ideas!"

Roxas smirked at his younger friend.

"You'll be fine," he said, "You've just got to believe in yourself! You can do it!"

Sora snorted.

"You've been hanging around one of the Disney nobles, haven't you?" he asked his friend playfully, "I told you to stay way from that mouse."

"It was the _duck_ you warned me about actually," Roxas grinned, "Remember that prank we played on him? Poor Donald, royal mage to the king of Disney Castle and he still doesn't know how to put out a fire."

Sora smiled in memory of the little _tail lighting _prank of two years back they'd played on the visiting mage. Little did they know that by the end of the whole ordeal, which included an almost full out prank war with the duck in question and his friend, the ever loyal dog, they'd make two life long friends in Donald and Goofy.

"I miss them," Sora admitted, he hadn't seen them in nearly a year.

"Oh," said Roxas, "Did I forget to tell you? They're both coming here to teach this year."

Sora lit up immediately causing Roxas to smile affectionately at the younger boy.

"Really?" he asked.

"Yeah," Roxas nodded, "Donald's going to help Merlin with magic and Goofy is taking a few self defence classes on. Should be a fun year, right?"

Sora sobered up immediately.

"Fun year?" he repeated as Roxas led him through the doors into the dinning hall, "Yeah right."

Sora took one look at all the assembled nobility and knew this was going to be far from a fun year.

__________________________

Kairi sat next to the older boy, Riku, a little nervous. He'd told her to stay put until they called her and the other new squire up to announce themselves. Kairi's first impressions of Riku were proving to be correct, he was handsome, but his attitude was less than desirable. If you got her meaning. He sat looking straight ahead, not talking to anyone around him, not really noticing anything. The one time she tried to strike up a conversation, she was immediately shot down.

"So how long have you been here for?"

"Awhile."

Kairi sighed, no conversation tonight then.

Hmmm, she thought, I wonder when the prince will get here."

It had been bothering her for most of the afternoon, she had never heard of him being a mean prince or anything. Well, she hadn't really ever heard much about him. The Twilight heirs where usually kept out of the spotlight as it were until they reached their eighteenth birthdays. She knew there was a prince and a princess, their names, but not much else. She looked around the hall, it was packed full of noble boys, all seated at long tables through out the hall. At the head was a larger table set up on a dais, this was obviously for Knight Masters and teachers. She looked at the assembled so far. Duke Ansem sat in the middle, to his right was middle aged blonde with goggles over his head, he looked a little grumpy. After him, to Kairi's surprise, were two, dark haired women. The one closest to the goggles guy had short, messily cropped hair held back by a head band, she seemed a little hyper to Kairi as she watched the girl who couldn't be more than eighteen bob on her seat.

The other woman was, Kairi had no other word for it, beautiful. Long dark hair that fell gracefully down her shoulders and soft, yet piercing dark eyes that seemed directed to the door of the great hall.

She looked a little…sad.

Kairi wondered why. She also wondered why they were there; they didn't look like etiquette teachers, so they must be-

Her eyes widened with immediate admiration.

_Female warriors. _

Kairi didn't even notice the other teachers, those women; they were all she could see as she looked up at them in awe. She wondered if she would ever be accepted as a-

The doors in the back banged open and two boys entered, she couldn't see their faces very well, the shorter of the two sat down immediately, the taller made his way to the teacher's table.

"Sorry I'm late," he grinned at them, Kairi blinked, he was speaking to the teachers like they were equals.

"Yes, yes, Your highness," she heard Ansem say, "Make your announcement and sit down."

"Right oh!" said the prince, saluting the Duke.

_So that's Prince Roxas! _Kairi thought in surprise, she leaned over to get a better look at him. Spiky blonde hair and shockingly blue cerulean blue eyes, his smile was rather lazy and his manner soft, relaxed.

So he's the future king of Twilight, thought Kairi, I wonder if it's true that he looks like his father.

Prince Roxas turned to his fellow squires, Kairi noticed there wasn't one straight face in the house, well all excepting Riku that was.

"Squires, pages," he began, "Fellow nobility…"

He sounded so formal.

"I would like to announce for the benefit of all assembled here that the lake is off limits this year for swimming," the crowd groaned, Roxas suddenly grinned, "Because you're invited to use the new swimming pool!"

The crowd cheered, Kairi bit back a confused laugh and looked at Roxas. He was actually serious!

"That is all," he said, making his voice sound grand and solemn. That did make Kairi laugh, which was cut short at the glare Riku gave her.

Duke Ansem rolled his eyes and stood before the hall as Roxas went to sit next to the boy he had entered with.

"Thank you, Prince Roxas," he said, a light note of sarcasm in his voice, "I'm sure we'll all be kept very cool this summer. Now as for the usual thing, I hope you all enjoyed the break you had at home due to the uh-unfortunate fire in Master Vexen's lab."

A spiky haired red head snickered.

"The lab has been rebuilt and lessons there will continue as normal," Ansem announced, his eyes on the laugher, "I trust we will have no further arsenal attempts this year."

Kairi was really confused.

"We have two new squires joining us this week," he said, "If they will please come up and introduce themselves."

Kairi stood a little shakily, aware that all eyes were on her, the boy that had come up with Roxas stood too. He had his hood over his head so she couldn't see his face and was wearing simple clothing that didn't belong to any house of Twilight she had ever seen. She ignored him as she was directed to stand in front of the hall.

_Wow, _she thought, _so many guys in one room, I feel like a piece of meat_.

That's how they were looking at her too, she looked at Duke Ansem and her gaze fell to the woman with the long dark hair, she was looking at the other boy. The expression on her face was sad, nervous too. Kairi wondered why.

The other boy stood beside her, his hood still up, he didn't even glance her way.

_How rude_, Kairi thought, a little annoyed.

_____________________

Sora took deep breathes, keeping his hood up until the last possible moment.

"You may introduce yourselves," he heard Ansem say.

Sora had hardly glanced at the boy next to him, and then he heard a familiar voice say.

"I'm Kai of Radiant Garden, youngest son of Lord Thomas, pleased to meet you all."

_Oh great_, thought Sora, _it can't be_.

Knowing his dumb luck though, it was.

"And you," Ansem said, speaking to Sora.

Sora whipped down his hood.

"I'm Sora Hikari," was all he said, as he faced the speechless crowd, "Hi guys."

"_You_!" hissed Kai.

Sora faced him with a grin. He couldn't help it; the boy's face was priceless!

"Hey there Red," he said teasingly, "Fancy meeting you here?"

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_**-collapses-**_

_**Wow! I haven't written a chapter this long in a while. Hope it's okay, I've been writing during my study breaks, so it took a while. **_

_**Enjoy!**_

_**-Southern Hearts-**_


	3. Loyalties

_**Chapter Three**_

_**Loyalties **_

Sora tossed in his sleep that night, the dreams coming back to haunt him, but this time there was a new addition to the usual frightening darkness of the nightmare.

It was a girl.

__

_Sora couldn't make out her face, but he could hear her calling out to him, whispering to him. She was there and yet she wasn't. _

"_Sora," she called softly, "Find me."_

"_Who are you?" he shouted through the darkness, "Where are you?"_

"_I'm closer than you think," she said, before disappearing into nothing, "Follow your heart to find your light."_

"_My…light?" he repeated softly, everything went dark again. _

____

Sora woke with a start, panting and shaking.

He ran a hand through his spiky hair, trying to calm himself down, his heart was doing back flips and the adrenalin was rushing to his head.

He looked down at his hand, the sudden urge to call it was overwhelming, he remembered the feel of it in his hand, the comfort it had brought him. He desperately wanted to summon it again, but resisted the urge. This was no place; he'd just have to survive with out it, like he always had, like he always will.

___________________________________

Kairi didn't get much sleep that night either, she kept going through the events of the evening in her head; she had made a complete fool of herself. But on the bright side, she couldn't stop smiling, she had made her first friend.

___

"_Hey Red," he had that goofy smile on his face again, "Fancy meeting you here?"_

_Kairi felt the heat rush to her face immediately, she couldn't move, couldn't speak. It was like a boil of emotions had begun in her. Anger, embarrassment, fear, everything she'd been holding back. _

_Okay, so she snapped a little._

"_Cat got your tongue, Red?"_

_Alright, she snapped a lot._

_That was it, with Sora laughing his head off she had chased him around the entire hall, much to the amusement of all assembled. She remembered seeing that spiky red head kid laughing his head off again, Prince Roxas at his side doing much the same thing. Riku looked on in silence, shaking his head. At one point they even had their own little fan group going, some shouting for Sora, others for Kai. _

"_Get back here!" she yelled._

"_Catch me if you can!" he yelled back teasingly, dodging her by rounding one of the tables. They faced one another across the tables Sora feinted one way, and then the other, making Kairi moved to his pace, he was still grinning like an idiot. _

_That was it._

_Somehow, she managed to dive across the table and tackle Sora on the other side, his eyes widened as she crashed into him. Both of them fell with a thump to the floor. _

_It took Kairi exactly three seconds to realise that not only was she lying on top of a boy, but that the entire squire population was staring at them, biting back fits of laughter. She looked down at Sora, he was looking at her oddly, a huge grin still plastered to his face, but his eyes. She couldn't put her finger on it, but there was some kind of sadness in them, fear and nervousness too. _

_She realised, he was just as scared and nervous about all this as she was. _

_She rolled off him, he sat up in surprise. Her anger had swiftly evaporated, she looked at him, and he flinched, waiting for her to explode. _

_Kairi sighed and settled for thumping him gently on the back of the head. _

"_Idiot," she muttered. _

_He blinked in surprise, rubbing his hand to where she had hit, then he smiled at her. Not a mischievous, teasing grin. But a genuinely friendly smile. _

_Kairi smiled too, she couldn't help it, his was just too infectious. She could have sworn his cheeks had reddened a little too. _

"_Aww!" a multitude of voices proclaimed and then burst into laughter. _

_Sora and Kairi both looked up at the assembled throng of boys surrounding them. All of them were laughing their heads off. Prince Roxas at the front. _

"_Brilliant gentlemen!" he cheered, "Excellent entertainment for the evening."_

_Sora laughed too, while Kairi grew redder and redder by the minute. Sora got to his feet, extending a hand to her. She looked up in surprise, just staring at his hand. _

"_Nice to meet you, Kai," he said smiling, "I think we got off on the wrong foot."_

_She took his hand, smiling too._

"_Thanks," she said gratefully, as she was pulled to her feet, "Sora."_

_They looked at each other and Kairi had the feeling they were going to be good friends. _

_Sora opened his mouth to say something when he grabbed from behind by Prince Roxas and the red head. _

"_Sora!" the red head exclaimed, gripping him in a headlock, "Didn't think I'd see you here. How've you been buddy?"_

"_Axel!" Sora struggled, "Let go!"_

"_Don't mind Sora and Axel," Prince Roxas said to Kairi, "We've all been friends since we were little, it's just a surprise for some of us to see Sora here."_

_Kairi blinked. _

"_**I'm Sora Hikari**__," he had said._

_Hikari. _

_That wasn't a noble name. _

_That meant…Sora was a peasant._

_So what was he doing here?_

_______

Who knew she and the annoying brat would get along after one evening?

Kairi looked up at the dark ceiling, she wondered how they knew each other, the prince of the kingdom and a peasant boy. They were friends. She grinned, she and Sora were friends too now, so he was a peasant, it's not like she'd never hung around them before. Namine had seen to that little experience.

Rolling onto her side, she closed her eyes, tomorrow, she'd get to know Sora better, he wasn't such a bad guy after all.

_________________________________

Sora's thoughts turned to Kai, such an odd fellow. He'd chased him around the entire hall, the teachers hadn't batted an eyelid, Sora couldn't blame them though. It was far too amusing a scene not to let happen. He remembered sitting next to Kai after the whole incident, he was actually a descent kid. Okay, he had a bit of a short temper, make that a really short temper, but he was nice enough.

____

"_So," he asked Kai, "You come from Radiant Garden?"_

_Kai had nodded his red head. They were seated at the dinner table near the back, the entire chase scene having died down long ago. Sora and Kai had been invited to sit with Roxas and Axel and a few more of their friends. Tidus, Vaan and Pence, he knew, the newer editions beside himself and Kai were Hayner, Derek and Sam. Sora scanned the room and his eyes met with Riku's, Sora felt his stomach drop. He hadn't spoken to Riku since in a long time and he had no idea what he would think of him becoming a squire. At one stage in their lives and until just after he and Roxas became friends, he had considered Riku his best friend. Now it seemed this was only so for Riku is Sora was in someway beneath him. Being best friends with the prince and being offered knighthood seemed to have caused Riku to strongly dislike, maybe even hate him for it. It saddened Sora's heart and he wondered if he would be able to talk to him, sort things out. He started thinking about their lives as children, Kai's voice brought him back to the present. _

"_Yeah."_

"_I hear it's really pretty up there," Roxas commented, "It's near the border to Oblivion, right?"_

_Kai nodded. _

"_We're about half a mile from the border," he explained, "And yeah, it's pretty, but as boring as hell."_

_Axel smirked. _

"_So you decided to move to the big city then huh?" he laughed, "Nice to have another red around. Even one whose voice hasn't broken yet."_

_Kai chuckled. _

"_Hey," Sora protested, "At least he's not a crazed pyromaniac like you!"_

"_Yours hasn't broken either spiky," Axel teased, earning a glare from Sora. _

"_Pyromaniac?" Kai asked, his eyes widening, "Don't tell me you're the one who set the lab on fire!?"_

_They all laughed._

_______

Sora laughed to himself, Kai was certainly going to be an interesting character. There was just something different about him, Sora couldn't quite put his finger on what, but he felt like there was something about Kai he should be noticing, but wasn't.

_A secret. _

Sora shrugged it off.

He was keeping a huge secret from the entire kingdom.

Compared to that, how bad could Kai's be?

___________________________________

Kairi rose the next morning to the sound of a very loud gong, she leapt up from bed in surprise. She sighed.

They had warned her about the wake up call.

_How annoying_, she thought sleepily, _suppose I'd better get used to it._

"Leon!" she yelled, pulling on her clothes, "What times breakfast?"

She was answered by snores.

_Great_, she thought, _guess I'm on my own this morning._

Stepping out of her door into the hallway, she recognised a spiky individual coming out of his own room which was just two doors down from hers.

"Sora!" she greeted, smiling.

Sora looked in her direction and grinned.

"Hi Kai," he said, "Ready to go down to breakfast?"

"Yeah!" said Kairi.

"Let's go then," said Sora, gesturing for her to follow him.

Kairi and Sora spoke as they walked down, Kairi was interested in Sora, he seemed really interesting and although he was annoying at first, she thought she might be beginning to like him.

"Sora?"

"Yeah?"

"If you don't mind me asking," she began, "Um, how do you know prince Roxas?"

"Rox?" Sora laughed, "I guess you can say our parents know each other really well, but that's not when I first became friends with him."

"Oh?"

"Roxas used to like to sneak out of the palace a lot," Sora explained, "He'd disguise himself and go 'mingle with the commoners,' he found palace life really boring. So one day, about five years ago, I got into a fight with some bullies and he helped me out. I had met him before, of course, but I guess you could say after that we really became friends."

"I have a friend like that," Kairi said absentmindedly, thinking of Namine.

"You do?"

_Oops_.

Namine's not supposed to cross the boarders.

"Well-uh-I mean my sister's friend," Kairi said quickly, "She comes from a rich family too and is always sneaking out."

"You have a sister?" asked Sora, interested.

Kairi groaned inwardly.

Now she really had to lie.

"Yes," she said, mentally asking Sora for forgiveness, "and a brother."

"What are their names?" asked Sora.

"My brother's name is Kyle," she said slowly.

"And your sister?"

"K-Kairi."

"Older or younger?"

"Slightly older," Kairi admitted, "We're triplets."

Sora's blue eyes widened.

"Wow!" he said, "Your mother must have had a time raising you lot!"

Kairi smiled sadly.

"She passed away right after I was born," she answered.

Sora blanched.

"I-I'm sorry!" he apologised, "I didn't realise-"

"It's okay Sora," Kairi gave a small chuckle, "You didn't know, it happened a long time ago in any case. It's not like I knew her."

Sora still looked sad for her though, she didn't want him to be. His big blue eyes were looking at her, not with pity, but with only understanding and sympathy. She could have stared into them forever.

_Get a grip! _

"So what about you?" she asked, trying to change the subject, "Any siblings."

Sora paused for a moment, hesitant, as if not sure how he should answer.

"Yeah," he said finally, "A little sister, two years younger."

Kairi smiled. Sora with a little sister, it just seemed to fit.

"What's her name?" she asked.

"Xion," said Sora, smiling in fond memory.

Kairi laughed.

He looked at her in surprise.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

Kairi shook her head.

"Nothing," she chuckled, "It's just that you do seem the big brother type."

Sora turned red at her remark for some reason, causing Kairi to blush as well and laugh a little harder.

__________________________

Breakfast was uneventful, the real torture came when Kairi's first lesson of training started and just her luck; it was archery.

Kairi detested archery with a passion. She had no aim to speak of, even Leon, who wasn't much of an archer himself, criticised her on her shoddy marksmanship. To make matters worse, the teacher was really, really weird. He had an eye patch over his left eye and his long hair was tied back in a pony tail. He was Master Xigbar.

"Alright students," he said gruffly, "Ready your bows, let's see what you can do!"

Kairi rose her bow a little shakily, she took a deep breath to steady herself and aimed, closing her right eye and focusing on the target. She concentrated on hitting the target and released her arrow. It shot out swiftly, but hit the side of the target instead of the middle. Kairi sighed in defeat, lowering her bow. She cast a glance over to Sora, Riku, Roxas, Axel and Hayner, and boy she'd met previously. Their arrows had hit their targets perfectly. She felt a stab of jealously. She'd never be able to shoot like that.

"All those who hit their targets can take a break," Xigbar announced after an hour of practice, "The rest of you, I want a lap around the field for every one you missed."

Kairi groaned.

She'd missed thirty targets.

She got up, realising she was the only one and blushed with embarrassment as she began to jog around the field. She ignored the snickering behind her and the heated tears beginning in her eyes and kept running.

_Come on Kairi_, she told herself angrily, wiping away a tear, _you're not a little girl anymore and this is nothing compared to Leon. _

She heard footsteps coming up behind her, she turned her head slightly as she ran.

"Sora!" she exclaimed, "What are you doing?"

Sora grinned at her and shrugged.

"I missed a few targets," he said simply.

He was lying. Kairi knew, he hadn't missed one.

"Hey guys!"

Prince Roxas and Axel had caught up with them.

"Your Highness!" Kairi exclaimed.

Prince Roxas smirked and gave her a friendly shove.

"It's just Roxas," he said, "'Your Highness' is my father, if you please."

She blushed again.

"Why are you all running?" she blurted out, "You didn't miss any targets?"

Sora and Roxas exchanged knowing glances.

"Because you're our friend," they said in unison.

Kairi blinked, smiling as they ran together.

___________________________________

"We need to work on your archery mate," Axel panted heavily, lying depleted on the ground, "Cause I am not running thirty laps again!"

"Lazy!" Roxas teased his friend, panting as well, "When you first got here you messed up with your chakrams sixty _eight_ times!"

"Sixty _seven_!" Axel retorted, "That first one didn't count!"

Sora and Kairi looked at one another, laughing.

"Thank you," said Kairi gratefully, "I really appreciate it!"

The three boys looked at her.

"Argh!" Axel exclaimed, "Don't talk like that! You sound like a girl!"

Kairi blanched.

"Do not!" she protested immediately.

Roxas chuckled.

"Don't mind him Kai," he said, "I think the heat finally fizzed out his brain cells-"

"Hey!"

"We should go swimming after next lesson," suggested Roxas.

Kairi grimaced.

"I-uh-I don't really like swimming," she lied.

The boys looked at her in surprise.

"Why not?" asked Axel loudly.

"I-I just don't," she said lamely.

"Can't you swim?" asked Sora.

"No," said Kairi, "I can swim, I just don't like to."

They stared at her.

"You're one weird kid," Axel remarked after a moment, "You know that?"

_You have no idea, _Kairi thought with a smile.

________________________________________

Riku watched the four with a smirk.

_Idiots. _

Then again, Sora and Roxas were, and Axel always managed to follow the young prince's lead. It was _sickening_.

The new kid wasn't much better, looked twelve rather than fourteen and hadn't even reached puberty yet. Riku was eyeing Sora though, of all the people in the world, he had never expected him to become a squire. It was against the law, wasn't it? Mind as well let women train!

He moved off to the next class quickly, not willing to let Sora of all people see him.

But see him, he did.

"Riku!" Sora yelled, breaking away from his friends and running up to Riku, "Man, there you are! I've been looking for you! I wanted to explain-"

Riku turned on him with a snap, his face sneering.

"Explain what exactly?" he asked, "How you've manipulated your royal friend into letting you come here? You don't belong here Sora!"

The last statement came out as a yell.

___________________________________

Her eyes glowed an acidy green in the darkness, her red lips curving into a smile as a black winged raven flew to her side.

"So you've found him, my pet," she simmered to the creature, "Well done."

She waved her hand, calling forth an image of the boy she had long sought from the memories and mind's eye of her minion.

"His heart is strong," she murmured to herself musingly, "But for how long."

She looked to her bird again and smiled. Everything was falling into place, all that remained was the keyholes. The boy was no more than a child, hardly a threat to her plans, he was not even old enough to be considered a man. She smirked to herself at the thought of him wielding so much power.

"We will break him," she prophesised.

She waved her hand once more, her attention turning to another individual, her smile widened.

"This boy has darkness in his heart," she observed, stroking her raven's beak gently, "Perhaps he can be used.

____________________________________

_**Really sorry about the slow update. **_

_**I have no excuse. **_

_**This chapters been ready for over a month.**_

_**Sorry, I kept saying I was going to put it up, but I never seemed to remember when I had the time. **_

_**Sorry again.**_

_**-Southern Hearts-**_


	4. By Chance We Meet

_**Chapter Four**_

_**By Chance We Meet**_

"You don't belong here Sora!"

Sora blinked, surprise and hurt evident in his eyes, but he smiled his cheesy grin and tried to keep it out of his face and voice. Riku sighed inwardly, everyone was staring at them by now, intrigued by their argument. Riku wished sometimes that Sora would just, well, get angry. Scream at him, ignore him, punch him; Riku didn't know, he just wished Sora wasn't so damn nice all the time. Putting on his best glare, again hoping that this time Sora would retaliate, he sneered and walked away. He was still waiting for the reaction he knew would never happen. Sora stood there, the smile still glued to his face, he didn't say anything more. Riku thought he heard Roxas whisper something to Sora, he knew he was probably nodding with what ever the prince had said. Riku looked ahead, making his way to the castle, his eyes locked for a moment with the new red headed kid, Kai. His wide violet eyes watching him with confusion and a little disappointment, before turning and rushing to Sora, worry evident in his gaze. He shot Riku a cold glare as he disappeared from sight.

**KHKHKHKHKHKHKHKHKH**

A few months later with the end of summer and eventual coming of the first autumn days, Kairi felt herself growing more and more accustomed to living with the _other_ boys. It was almost like having thirty odd brothers and not being treated like a girl half the time. She missed Kyle, since she'd started her training she'd only received about four letters from her magical brother and had written maybe twenty in reply. From her father, none had come in. She felt little sadness over the fact, she and her father were never really going to have any kind of normal father-daughter relationship, especially not now.

A few days previously Duke Ansem had announced an end of summer competition amongst the squires, a bout of duels to be held to begin the celebrations of All Hallows Eve, or Halloween as was the now popular term for it. Kairi usually enjoyed the celebration, it had been one of her favourites as a child. Dressing up to scare away evil spirits, bobbing for apples, laughing around great bon fires. She missed sneaking into the village with Namine to enjoy the celebration with the peasants, it was more fun than her father's ideas of a quiet evening at home. This day also happened to be the Prince Roxas' sixteenth birthday.

She was excited about the competition which was to be held the day before the ball, here in Twilight Dawn they called it a 'Struggle.'

"Hey Kai!" the familiar voice rocked her out of her thoughts.

She turned, smiling as she recognised the grinning boy with spiky brown hair.

"Sora!" she called back in greeting.

Sora ran to catch up with her, over the past few months they Roxas, Axel and Hayner had been hanging around each other. But if Kairi had to say, Sora was probably turning out to be one of her best friends. After the argument with Riku, Sora had still been trying to talk to him, but the silver haired teen did his best to ignore him. Kairi wondered what had happened between them, most of the squires had no problem with Sora being a peasant. Well, there was a small group that did, but surely Sora had proven by now that he could fight and train as well as the rest of them. Surely he deserved this just as much as any noble. She thought of all the things she had learned about Sora in the past few months, he was a ward of Tifa Lockhart, one of the most famous warriors in Twilight, he'd been trained by both his foster mother and the infamous Yuffie Kasagura in mostly hand to hand combat, but his sword skills were still well above ordinary. He'd been the Land of Dragons during the Hun wars with his mother and had just about travelled all over the world with two representatives from the Disney court tagging along. Donald and Goofy. Old friends, he had said, and the best a guy could ask for. For a good two years he had spent out in the world, but that was a long time ago and he had been no more than a child. He smiled when he retold his stories and those of the multiple friends he had made while travelling. He seemed fond of each and everyone of them and loyal to a fault for each and every one. Sora, she concluded happily, was a genuinely all around good guy. He had also recently turned fifteen, earlier in the October month. Kairi would have to wait a little longer, her birthday only being in mid-November.

"You entering in the Struggle?" she asked him, as he finally caught up.

Sora nodded, grinning.

"Can't let Roxas keep the title forever, you know?" he laughed, "How about you Kai? Going to try beat our little prince Charming?"

Kairi let out a laugh.

"Don't let him hear you say that," she warned, "Apparently Roxas and Hayner have agreed to team up to beat Seifer."

Sora frowned.

"The jerk?" Sora shook his head, "He won't be a problem, not with Roxas and Riku both competing."

Kairi frowned too.

"Why do you keep defending Riku?" she asked seriously, "He's obviously hurt you."

Sora looked at her in surprise and shrugged.

"He was always my biggest rival," he agreed, "But he was always my best friend, I don't know, it's habit I suppose."

Kairi nodded. Sora sighed and looked away for a moment, before looking back into Kairi's eyes again.

"You know Kai," he said softly, leaning forward.

Kairi looked into his cerulean blue gaze and felt herself swallow hard.

"Y-yeah Sora?"

Sora smiled.

"You're real easy to talk to," he said in the same soft voice.

"R-really?"

Sora gave a firm nod, laughing a little.

Kairi smiled, a little confused by the expression on Sora's face, but happy to it there none the less.

"Come on," he said, grabbing her arm, "Lets find Roxas!"

**KHKHKHKHKHKHKHKHK**

Roxas sighed.

Life was just getting more and more complicated.

First Sora. Now that was a bombshell he could have done without, not that he didn't like him, heck he loved the little guy, but really this whole affair was getting rather bothersome.

"You understand the situation," the greying hair of the spiky haired man in front of him moved as he paced.

"I understand, Father," said Roxas with a deep sigh, sometimes and more often than not, he hated being the oldest and sole heir to the kingdom. He wished more than anything he could be free, free to make his own decisions, his own choices. For a long time he'd been jealous of Sora, he had the freedom Roxas craved, he was the lucky one.

_Not any more. _

Roxas felt guilty. What ever his future held in store for him, it was fairly certain. Become King of Twilight, marry a pretty princess, have a bunch of kids and live comfortably in the palace for the rest of his life. Undesirable and _boring_, but a certainty.

Sora didn't have such a luxury.

His life had taken a drastic turn and he went from being the carefree warrior's son, to a knight in training who didn't even want the position. Roxas really hoped that Sora would wash his hands of all this when his training was done, just like he said he would. He really hoped that Sora would fight for his chance at the life he wanted, not one that was plotted out for him long ago.

But Roxas had a horrible feeling, right down in the pits of his heart, that Sora would not be able to escape his fate, would not be able to turn back the tides and carve a future for himself. Sora would always do what was right, he would always try to help people.

And by doing so he would destroy his future.

Roxas took a shaky breath, silently vowing to himself that he would help Sora in what ever may come to pass. If he could help it, Sora would have his own future.

"What about Sora?" he asked his father, "Are you going to tell him?"

The old king's eyes clouded over and he looked out of the window in sadness and loss, Roxas almost felt sorry for the old man, but he knew the depressed feeling would pass. His father looked back at him and shook his head.

"No," he said, "I will not tell Sora and neither must you."

"This concerns him more than anyone," Roxas protested, "She could really hurt him, don't you care about him at all?"

The old king stiffened and this time the mournful look in his old blue eyes really did draw pity from Roxas, but it was quickly replaced when he bit back in anger.

"Of course I do," he said bitterly, "Which is why its better off he doesn't know, I'll take care of the problem myself."

"Father-" Roxas began.

"No Roxas," he sighed wearily, "Look after Sora, his fate is tied very closely with this kingdom's after all."

With that the king departed, Roxas bowed his head respectfully as he passed. When the old man was gone he looked up and gave a great sigh.

Now what was he supposed to do?

Shaking his head he decided it was high time he took a walk into the city to clear his head, he ran straight for his common clothes and munny poach.

_Light_, he needed a break.

**KHKHKHKHKHKHKHKHKH**

Namine looked out of the carriage, a huge grin alighting on her pale face. So this was the capital of Twilight? It was busier than she had expected, but very beautiful. Sweeping architecture decorated every building and corner of the wondrous city, there were sellers and merchants lining the streets and the glorious smell of food wafted to her nose.

Her stomach rumbled.

Tapping her foot impatiently she sighed, there was no way she was going to wait until they got to the palace to eat. That would take ages, first she'd have to greet her hosts and make small talk and do all those nasty pleasantries royals and nobles alike had to do. That was absolutely the last thing she wanted to do right now.

She was hungry.

"Please stop the carriage," she ordered her driver in a firm voice, they came to an abrupt halt and one of her guards looked at her quizzically.

"Milady?" the guard inquired.

"I'm going to explore for a bit," she said, grabbing her cloak, "Circle the carriage round a couple times and pick me up in about an hour."

"But milady-" the guard protested, too late as Namine leapt from the carriage door, drew her cloak up around her and disappeared into the crowds. The guard sighed, even he had to admit she was good.

"You heard her," he told the driver, "Circle round."

Namine smiled a little as she watched the carriage depart, then she looked around, her mind first on settling her growling stomach and then to exploring a little of the strange city. She eventually found what she was looking for, a small store set into the corner of the street from which the wondrous smell of freshly baked pies was coming from. Her mouth already watering, she entered the shop and walked straight to the counter. A few moments later she exited the pie shop, a steaming pie wrapped up in a napkin for her. She took a happy bite of the meaty food before setting off once more in her exploration of the city. She only had an hour after all.

Keeping a close eye on the large clock tower in the distance, she began wondering down the streets of Twilight, looking around curiously. There were so many sellers and stall, not dissimilar to her own beloved Oblivion. The people seemed friendly and happy.

This, Namine concluded some forty minutes later, was a well taken care of kingdom and people. She smiled at that, regaling to herself the sorry state of affairs many other kingdoms lay in. She was glad Kari had a chance to live in such a wondrous place and a little jealous of the fact too.

_Kairi._

Namine couldn't wait to see her friend again, the entire reason she had agreed to a visit with the king was not to see the famed Struggle, but to see her friend, Kairi of Radiant Garden. It was strange of her father to request she visit the foreign king's court on her own. Stranger still her older brother's reaction to her leaving, but she put the thought to the back of her head. She's worry about it when she arrived back home. With a little skip in her step, she carried on down the market street, liking more and more at the bustling city.

"Hey! Look out!" Namine turned in confusion and her eyes widened in shock as a rogue horse had broken free of its master and was head straight towards her, towing behind it a rather large carriage. Its eyes locked to hers, but it didn't seem to even be seeing her, ears lay flat back on its head and it neighed both with anger and_…fear. _

Namine stood stock still, too shocked to move. Years later many would know this as the deer caught in headlights effect. For now it froze her solid.

"Get out of the way!"

Namine felt something solid collide into her, knocking her to the ground, she closed her eyes as she landed in the dust on the side of the road. She could suddenly feel and hear everything, the thunder clap of the horses hooves and the rattle of the carriage as it passed them by and charged further down the street. Her own heavy breathing as her heart pounded in her ears and finally, the rapid breath of the solid form that lay on top of her. Then she felt a shift in weight and looked up into two very blue eyes.

"Hey, are you alright?" the voice was worried, clearly male and kind. She felt a shift in weight as he got off of her and offered her a hand up. Namine looked up at the stranger, gold blond hair, blue eyes and an almost boyish charm around him. She nodded, too dumbfounded to speak and accepted the hand up.

"You need to be careful," said the boy, looking at her oddly, "That horse nearly hit you."

Namine took a moment to compose herself, it wasn't right for a princess to appear in distress, despite popular fairytales. As part of the royal family, especially in Oblivion, she had to appear unaffected and regal at all times.

"Yes, t-thank you for saving me," Namine said, proudly managing to keep most of the stammer from her voice, "You were very brave."

She was granted with a look of surprise from the boy, he wore common clothes beneath his coat, but the way he held himself was…different. He stood tall and strong, comfortable in his own skin and confidant in himself. This boy was something more than a commoner, perhaps a soldier's son?

"And you're very proper," the boy smiled, searching her with his inquisitive gaze.

Namine straightened a little at the comment.

"Not proper," she retorted, a little annoyed, "Practical."

"Is there a difference?" he asked, his voice taking a small, teasing tone.

"Yes," she said, "Practicality keeps me from over reacting to this situation, thank you again for saving me, but I really should be on my way."

With that, she proceeded to walk away, heading down one of the narrower roads to her left. To her annoyance, the boy followed her.

"Speak proper too," the boy said, not even flinching, "You're wearing peasant clothes, but you are clearly not one."

"Well," said Namine testily, "I suppose that makes the two of us."

"Oh," he said, raising a blonde eyebrow, "And how do you work that one out?"

"I wouldn't want to give away all my secrets to a stranger," she smiled, extending her hand, "Whatever class you come from, I thank you. My name is Nadine."

"Rocky," he said, taking her hand and giving it a firm shake, "You new around here?"

"How'd you work that one out?" Namine mimicked his tone.

Rocky chuckled.

"Never seen you around before," he said casually, "And I don't think I'd miss a pretty girl like you."

Namine laughed.

"That your idea of flirting?" she asked curiously, "Save a girl and then try to charm her?"

"Got to start somewhere," he shrugged.

"Well, I'm sure you'll get yourself far with that, but please, go find some other helpless thing in front of a runaway carriage.

"Nah," Rocky said, folding his hands behind his head, "You're way more interesting."

"I'm so pleased I amuse you," she said dryly.

"So, where you headed?" he asked.

"Just looking around," she replied nonchalantly.

"For what?"

"Nothing." Namine started walking faster.

"There's gotta be something." Rocky started walking faster too, keeping up with her pace quite easily.

"Maybe something and nothing are two of the same thing," she retorted, starting to get annoyed by his persistence.

"You're confusing, you know that?"

"How so?"

"Most girls who almost get killed take a moment to fawn over their rescuer and all that."

Namine stopped in her tracks and looked at him in disbelief. Her left eyebrow rose quizzically at his statement and she was pleased he at least had the decency to blush.

"Do you want me to fawn over you?"

"A little adoration would be nice," he mumbled, seeming slightly abashed by what he had said.

"Hmm, maybe your ego is bigger than I thought," she replied, continuing to walk away.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked a little angrily, quickly catching up with her again.

"Exactly as it sounds."

"No ones ever accused me of having an ego before," he muttered grumpily.

"Every man has an ego," she retorted stubbornly, "There are merely varying degrees."

"Oh?" he asked, "And I suppose you've made a study of this?"

"I like to be able to read people," she said, "It helps in my line of work."

"And what's that?" Rocky asked, again making her stop in her tracks. This time Namine smiled at him, making sure to flutter her eyelashes at him prettily. It worked as his cheeks turned pink under her gaze. Namine made sure to put a little magic in her voice as she held him spellbound She leaned in close to his face, she whispered softly and sweetly in his ear.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

Desired effect obtained, she didn't even glance back, satisfied that she had distracted him long enough to hurry away. She quickly slipped down a back alley and hid behind a pile of crates. A moment later she heard his rapid footsteps go by as he searched around frantically for her.

"Hey! Nadine? Where are you?"

He stopped right near where Namine was hiding, she drew back against the boxes, hoping he would go away soon. He stood there for a long moment, reaching up and scratching the back of his head tiredly. Then to her surprise, she heard a soft chuckle.

"Not bad for such a little witch."

Her blue eyes widened in surprise and she gaped at him silently. How had he figured out she was a witch? Her eyes then turned icy and she glared. What did he mean by _little?_

She heard him give another chuckle, folding his hands behind his head and walking away, whistling as he went. Namine waited until he was out of sight before she hurried back the same way she came to meet up with her carriage. As she finally got on board, she sat and proceeded to tap her fingers irritably on the seat as they drove towards the palace. In her mind she kept replaying her entire encounter with the boy.

_Little indeed!_

**KHKHKHKHKH**

Roxas strolled back towards the palace, a goofy sort of grin on his face. He'd snuck out again and met the most interesting girl.

_Nadine. _

The name rolled off his tongue. So maybe she was a little dense, especially stepping out in front of the carriage like that, the moment he first saw her all he could think was;

_Idiot. _

But then he'd talked to her, or at least tried to. She really was very proper, her whole manner, everything about her. If he didn't know any better he'd say she was of noble blood. He quickly dispelled that thought from his head, no noble girl he'd ever met or heard about would be caught dead out in the common streets. And Roxas knew a lot of noble girls. From miles around they would come, all vying for a marriage agreement between their fathers and the his. Roxas got the feeling his father was growing impatient with his lack of decision concerning a bride, but that couldn't be helped. He was fifteen for Light's sake! Sixteen in a few days. Far too young to even consider looking for a fiancée, never mind a bride. He still wanted to be knighted, see a little bit of the world, fight for his kingdom. Marriage was one of the last things on his list to do, only one above death in fact.

But Nadine had been…

_More real than those other girls. _

There was a way about how she walked and held herself, he had watched her from across the street right before the carriage came, smiling and talking to the people. There was a caring look about her as she chatted happily with each and every one. He'd liked it, he'd liked it a lot.

_She must be a merchant's daughter or something. _

Not noble, but not peasant either. Her whole demeanour screamed lady, but the way she acted with the common people showed genuine concern and respect.

Alright, he admitted it, he'd been watching her for a lot longer than just before the carriage broke free. He'd first seen her as she exited the pie shop, looking happy and contented as she dug into her food. But wasn't what had caught his attention, but her eyes. The sheer, endless icy blue. Piercing eyes, mysterious eyes.

What could Roxas say, he was curious.

After all, it wasn't everyday you ran into a witch. He had felt the magic she had used on him to bewitch him in place. Not everyone could pick up the sensation, but then again, not everyone had trained under Merlin. It had been a soft suggestion, just enough to allow herself time to get away. He sighed a little, hoping he'd get to see her again someday, he'd enjoyed trying to ruffle her feathers that afternoon.

"Hey Rox!"

Roxas turned and smiled as he saw Kai and Sora running towards him. He waved at the two and waited till they caught up to him.

"Where've you been?" asked Sora, panting a little.

"We were looking everywhere," Kai added in, also trying to catch his breath.

Roxas shrugged.

"Just needed some fresh air."

Sora eyed him sceptically.

"I'm guessing Rocky took another roam around town?" he sighed.

Roxas remembered the blonde girl, Nadine and grinned, merely winking at Sora.

It had been a _damn _goodroam.

**Well, I haven't been writing this story for a while. A lot of my ideas for it have changed, so I'm redrafting a few things. Namine has come in a little earlier than first anticipated, but it'll still work. Enjoy!**

**-Southern Heart-**


End file.
